7:37pm: According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, friends close to Phil say that while they aren't sure if he'll coach again, it's not something they would rule out. They also believe that the only way to entice Jackson out of retirement would be a situation in which he sees nothing less than a "path to the championship" (Twitter links).
7:17pm: Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com reports that Phil Jackson has no interest in returning to the NBA to coach, which quells any notion of the 67-year-old replacing P.J. Carlesimo on the Nets for now. Jackson gave an exclusive statement, saying: "I have no intention of ever coaching again.” Regardless, Sheridan believes Jackson's admittance to be more of a hedge and anticipates that the 11-time champion guru will still be contacted by teams in the future.
Interestingly enough, Jackson's words had no implication on whether or not he'd be open to joining a team in another capacity. In that case, Sheridan thinks that the Nets could thrust themselves back into the radar if they were to offer a top executive job.
This season, there have been ample rumblings of a potential comeback. In November, Jackson had been strongly linked to the Lakers before being turned away in favor of Mike D'Antoni. After Avery Johnson's exit in Brooklyn, the former New York Knick player had widely been reported to be the Nets' top target. According to Sheridan, Jackson did not elaborate on nor address Brooklyn's efforts to try to lure him to their organization either. It is also mentioned that as recently as today, the Zen Master was still drawing interest and that another team had recently been in touch to inquire about his availability.